Done At Last, Done At Last-Thank God I Am Done At Last!!

I am finally finished with my sweater. It is so worth the effort and the wait. I am wearing it today on what may very well be the last chilly day of spring(one can only hope!). There are only a few things I will be changing on my next effort which will be as soon as I can get to Carol's Knit Studio for more Misty Alpaca. Next time I will be using a solid. The varigated has always shown up better in the pics than in real life but still it bugs me a little. Secondly I will change the neck just a little. I seriously need a size 5 Addi Turbo in a much shorter length so that when I get to where the neck narrows up then I can switch and I won't end up stretching out my stitches like I did on this one. Also I will start the neck itself just a little lower and do some short row shaping to raise the back neck and lower the front just a little. Other than that I am so happy with this perfectly soft, custom fitted dream of a sweater. PS-I love the cabling I did up the sleeve decreases although next time I may do the decrease stitch 1 stitch in from the cable instead of right next to the purl stitch.

Here is a pretty project that I have had on the burner for a few weeks. First I had to order the crystal beads from the internet and wait for them to come in. Then I had to find Delica's I wanted to use. Luckily I found some at Hobby Lobby on sale that worked perfectly. Then I could not find the right thread!! Finally I seemed to have everything-no wait-I could not find my Thread Heaven to pretreat the Nymo. But I made it anyway and except for being a little big on my wrist and the toggle is slightly to long for my taste I love it. The pictures don't do it justice -it sparkles so wonderfully. It has kind of a victorian feel to it although with different beads it could take on all kinds of moods. I learned a lot of things about beading I did not know such as the peyote stitch and following beading diagrams. I will use Thread Heaven next time or use the alternative thread suggested which I think was Fireline. I will make the toggle only 8 stitches long instead of 10. I also understand the pattern now so hopefully I will not make the same little mistakes I made early on in the project. I will also work on a better surface than my lap and not spill the beads several times!!! I also worked on my Last Horcrux socks a bit this week and am now well into the foot. I have tried them on and they look pretty good although I would have liked them a little taller. I should have made the ribbing after the lightening bolts a little longer. I don't like the way the dutch heel fits my foot. It is too narrow and the decreases are under my heel not along the edge. I love the yarn I used tho as it has so much color but none of it pools or stripes at all. Off my feet the socks don't take a great picture as the ribbing draws in and the lace does not but I did not have anyone to take the picture of my foot when I had it on!! These will be summer socks but I need to find the right shoes to show them off!!

The rest of my week was occupied by work, work and more work. I stayed late 2 nights out of 4 and came home dog tired each and every day. The weather has been dreary and cold. Thank goodness I still had my winter walking appearal at hand cause I needed it every day. I am still in the middle of "Voyager". I will probably finish this weekend, just in time to use my extra 15% off at Barnes & Noble for book 4. I also have 2 free movie passes so I may go to Bricktown and see a movie or 2. I am on call so I have plenty of time to kill. At least once I go buy the rest of my spring plants, go buy more beads, more yarn, more...more...more...!!!! Till next week then...